Meet our team
Sara Nightingale, Program Coordinator
Sara Nightingale has been Program Coordinator with TIES since August 2017. Prior to her employment at TIES, Sara worked on the Child/Adolescent Behavioral Health Unit with St. Luke’s Hospital as a Youth Counselor for almost 2 years. Sara has a Master’s Degree in Forensic Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from The University of Iowa. Sara currently holds a temporary Mental Health Counselor license with the State of Iowa. Throughout her career, Sara has worked primarily in the non-profit field. She has been involved in mentoring programs both as an employee and mentor, worked in child serving agencies, and organizations helping both adults and youth with mental health diagnoses. Sara has lived in Iowa for most of her life but has also lived in Chicago, IL and Massachusetts. She enjoys learning and teaching new things, reading, being outside (but only when it is warm), traveling, and visiting friends and family all over the world.
Kelley De Long, Classroom Coordinator
Kelley De Long has been Classroom Coordinator with TIES since September 2017. Prior to her employment at TIES, Kelley worked on the Child/Adolescent Behavioral Health Unit with St. Luke’s Hospital as a Recreation Therapist. Kelley has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies with emphasis in Psychology and Education. Kelley is a trauma informed yoga instructor and encourages deep breathing in any stressful situation. Throughout her career, Kelley has worked primarily in education and the behavioral health field. She has been involved in serving underrepresented and underserved populations through mentoring programs, social service agencies, and schools. She enjoys traveling, learning about new cultures, running, climbing mountains’ (literally), playing hockey, and being active outdoors.
Hillary Hunter, Case Manager
Hillary Hunter is a Case Manager with TIES Program at St. Luke’s—Unity Point Health. She has been employed with TIES since November 2016. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Family Services from the University of Northern Iowa. For the past 9 years she has worked with youth and adolescents in Residential Treatment facilities, PMIC (Pediatric Mental Institute for Children) and has been a BHIS (Behavioral Health Intervention Services) Caseworker. Through her experience she has been able to guide and support families with tools and interventions to know how to best support their children who have been diagnosed with various mental health diagnosis’ as well as how to be successful to the point of graduating from support services. While working in the residential and mental health facilities she was able to help children and adolescents by educating and supporting by helping know how to manage their emotions, understand their barriers and how to achieve success through overcoming some of the barriers that they faced. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her husband and toddler. Together and or with friends, they enjoy traveling around the world, being outdoors, running, cooking and DIY projects.